What are China’s ‘two sessions’ and why this year’s meetings are significant

What are the key policy announcements?

China will announce its central and local government budgets, military spending budget and economic growth target on the opening day of the NPC.

Among these, the growth target will be the most watched as policymakers try to shore up China’s uneven economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. 

China is said to be aiming for a 2023 growth target of potentially up to 6 per cent, in a bid to boost investor and consumer confidence and build on a post-pandemic recovery. 

China’s economy grew 3 per cent in 2022, missing the official target of about 5.5 per cent as the pandemic, property market stress and slowing global demand took a heavy toll on the world’s second-largest economy.

The military budget will also be in focus after last year saw the biggest hike in China’s defence spending since 2019, amid US weapons sales to China-claimed Taiwan, US military missions in the South China Sea and a festering border dispute with India.

The figure is closely watched by China’s neighbours and in Washington as a barometer of how aggressively the country will beef up its military. 

What else will be discussed?

The NPC will discuss Xi’s plans for an “intensive” and “wide-ranging” reorganisation of state and Communist Party entities, state media reported on Tuesday. Analysts expect the revamp to further deepen party penetration of state organs.

Draft amendments to China’s Legislation Law will also be reviewed, which include authorising emergency lawmaking by the NPC Standing Committee and requiring constitutional scrutiny of laws before they are passed, according to Changhao Wei, a fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center.

Several NPC and CPPCC delegates have also put forth policy proposals in recent days, with China’s historically low fertility rate a hot topic.

Free college education and equal rights for unmarried women are among the proposals being pushed by CPPCC delegates.

One CPPCC member told the Global Times this week that China should remove restrictions on marital status used to register newborns, allowing unmarried women to enjoy fertility services like married women do.

Another CPPCC member, Gan Huatian, said paternity leave should also be increased to make men share parenting responsibilities, while another said that families who have a third child born after 2024 should receive free college education.